Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The elephant in the room...

I think the issue of racism is a lot like that story about the five blindfolded people and the elephant. Each person can't see and they are taken to an elephant and put their hands on it and then try to describe what an elephant is like.

One guy's got the tusk: He says, "Elephants are smooth and cold and kind of pointy at the end."
One guy's got the ear: He says, "No elephants are flat and wide and they flap around a lot."
One guy's got the leg: He says, "No no no, you're both wrong--elephants are sturdy and thick like a tree trunk."

and so on.

The same thing is true when it comes to issues of race relations. Most people who have something to say about this issue are coming from a place of truth, but they're not recognizing that the people that don't agree with them oftentimes have valid points as well. It is an acknowledgment of all of the viewpoints that allows us to create a complete picture of what is really going on. Most of the dialogue I hear about race, the opposing sides aren't even discussing the same things! How can we make progress if we're having separate conversations? We can't.

In my experience when trying to have discussions about these sensitive issues, two major things tend to happen.

white people just get overwhelmed by guilt and feelings of helplessness.
people of color people get overwhelmed by anger and rage.

Both sides get defensive, and conversation breaks down.

When is the last time you heard of someone who was overwhelmed or defensive doing anything productive, getting anything accomplished?

I feel like this is one of those issues where if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

The status quo is not good enough for me--I know we can do better.

You know the drill--comments, yo.


  1. Anonymous11:01 PM

    I saw one of the talk shows that asked why we can't talk about race, racism, etc. openly, honestly. It's because, as one guest put it, there is a lot of SHAME in our history regarding race and race relations. It's like having someone bring up some embarrassing, inappropriate thing one of your relatives did that you'd just as soon forget about.

    There is nothing that can be done about our past...we have to find a way to get past it. As with any hurt, it is definitely hard to get past it. Some people find that their religion helps, others hold on to it, and still others find food, drugs, revenge, etc. as ways to manage it. Others mask hurt or cover it up with denial. There is no solution that will eliminate it completely.

    There is a good article I read in my local paper that mentions how the media is attempting to deal with the hurt by showing an integrated America. I admit, these images do make me feel better about the America we live in. I then have to ask myself, am I allowing myself to become deluded? I'm not sure.

    Here's a link to the article:

    What do you think?

  2. Anonymous10:48 PM

    I think that's a perfect comparison. Funny, since I just read that story to my son the other day (the elephant).

    I imagine I have been guilty on both sides. I have trouble not getting angry or hurt when discussing Native issues, and I tend to set out to convince people, rather than to hear another side. I do try to control that, but whether I succeed is a different story. I want to understand why people think the way they do, but I also want to fix the ills, and I'm too passionate a person to keep it under wraps sometimes.